ESPN’s J.A. Adande says although Cleveland got LeBron James back, Carmelo Anthony is rejoining the Knicks among other moves, the Spurs were the big winners of the offseason thus far.

No, the Spurs didn’t make the eye-grabbing move of the summer — the return of LeBron James to Cleveland snagged that honor — but they made a series of low-key announcements that four main components of their championship squad are coming back: Diaw, Tim Duncan, Patty Mills and coach Gregg Popovich.

Put it this way: Would you rather have a team with LeBron adapting to a new group of players, or a team that just beat LeBron by a total of 70 points in five NBA Finals games? The Spurs epitomize the underrated story of the 2014 NBA free-agent fest, which is that retaining is the new improving.

Aside from bringing back those players, they were able to draft a player in Kyle Anderson that was expected to go as high as ten picks earlier. All that is left is filling that 15th roster spot. Andrew Ball will tackle that topic tomorrow here on Project Spurs.

Anderson is here to learn, absorb and take his first professional steps. Being a sponge is his mission in the desert.

“I have a great appreciation for the game,” Anderson said. “Everything people tell me or I hear, I’m going to take it. I’m ready to learn everything I can.”

Garcia also said Anderson understands that he may spend some time with the Austin Toros early on in his rookie year, and could spend some time bouncing back and forth like Aron Baynes and Nando De Colo did last season.

Manu Ginobili had his time with it in Argentina. Aron Baynes and Patty Mills took it video bombing in Australia. Now newly re-signed Spur, Matt Bonner, is taking the Larry O’Brien trophy to Concord, New Hampshire.

About Michael A. De Leon

Michael founded Project Spurs in 2004. He started The Spurscast, the first Spurs podcast on the Internet, in 2005. Michael has been interviewed by the BBC, SportTalk, the Sports Reporters Radio Show, MemphisSportLive, OKC Sports Wrap and ESPN radio among others. He is a credentialed member of the media for the San Antonio Spurs and Austin Toros. He is also the founder of Project Spurs' sister sites, Toros Nation and Stars Hoops.